The Untold Truth
by MaeMcIntosh
Summary: Jayden's not the only one with a secret. Someone is hiding something, and it will not just affect one person, but almost all of the team. Who is not who they say they are?
1. A Not-So-Merry Christmas

**Disclaimer: I do not own power rangers or Santa Clause, but I really wish I did own Rudolf, but I still don't. All ****original characters and creative ideas are all mine though!**

**A/N: Hi, this is my first fic posted, and before you go asking me why I'm doing a Christmas fic in March, all I will say is that I just needed a starting point, and a friend wanted me to write a story for him that was about Santa for no apparent reason, so I came up with this. I hope you like it, and don't worry, it will not always be about Christmas. In the scheme of things, I will actually try to take it after Samurai. This may loosely tie into Power Rangers Samurai during and after "Christmas Together Friends Forever." Enjoy!**

"You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout. I'm telling you why, Santa Clause is coming to town! He see's you when you're sleeping! He knows when you're awake! He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!" Mia caroled with her friends. This is any samurai ranger's favorite time of year, because they know the truth. They know all about the mystery formally known as Santa Clause. But, we'll get into that later. First, let's tell the tale of the samurai who didn't believe...

48 hours earlier

Mia watched as her friends dashed from tree to tree trying to figure out witch one would be perfect to bring back to the Shiba House. She lets out a loud sneeze then says to herself, "Ah, Christmas, the one time my allergies bug me inside _and_ out! Whose dumb idea was it to have a Christmas _tree_ anyways? What's wrong with a Christmas herb or a Christmas shrub?"

"The problem is when you are given a cheap ornament every year from your sister-in-law, then you would run out of room very quickly." An older man with snowy black hair* stated, "Plus, watching you guys pick one out wouldn't even be half as fun! I still can't believe that you of all people don't celebrate Christmas!"

"Mentor, just drop it. You've been going on about this since I told you, in NOVEMBER!" Mia complained.

"I would like you to at least tell me why!" He defended that obnoxiously calm way he usually does. She begins to open her mouth to retort when she lets out a series sneezes. Mia rubs her nose. It is not hard to tell that this is the last place she would like to be right now and Mentor certainly wasn't making things andy better. "Fine, this can wait, but this is not over. Here," he hands her an envelope and a little container, "your mother had me pick up your allergy medicine and told me to give you this letter. Remember you will have to tell me eventually." She sighs, pockets the letter, and takes the medicine.

This little exchange has been going on since Thanksgiving day when Mentor let Mia help him cook dinner, so long as she followed _his_ recipe to a tee. They were in the middle of making the stuffing when Mentor asked her what was her favorite Christmas memory. She tried to explain to him that she didn't celebrate Christmas, and he nearly had a heart attack when she said that she didn't believe in Santa Clause. Ever since he has been on her tail begging her to give him a reason why.

Right as she begins to walk away from the older man, a hyperactive curly blonde rushes right up to her and drags her from tree to tree, seeing if each one is the right hight, with, and is green enough. She has Mia hold up at least twenty five trees as she inspects every single one for at least five minutes at a time. By the time they were done Mia's arms were as red and swollen as Mike's face he accidentally did the symbol for poisoned ivy instead of vine. She hid them under her jacket so her friend's wouldn't notice.

On the way back to the Shiba House, Mia walked slowly behind the others. She looked around at all of the decorations. Every shop was lined with lights and trees with gifts were in every window. Kids looked in awe at all of the toy stores filled with every item on their Christmas list. She sighed at the thought of how she never had the chance to be like those kids, even able to imagine that someone might give her her one wish. She looked ahead at her friends who were all smiling and laughing while helping Mentor push the wheelbarrow that contains the big green tree. She reaches into her pocket and grabs the letter. Mia looks at it for a few seconds, then she opens it up and a picture fell out. She put that aside and read the note. It said:

_Dear Mia,_

_ I hope that you are doing well, and that you are having a good time despite the issue with the nilock monsters. Terry, your father, and I miss you very much. It hasn't be the same without you. Terry wants me to tell you that since you are not hear, he forced us to get a real tree this year. You should have seen him at the Christmas tree sale, running from tree to tree like a maniac! You would have been laughing so hard! I got it all on video for you. When you you get home, we have to watch it together! He wanted me to put in a picture of him next to it in the letter. I will admit, there is something special that a piece of green and brown plastic just can not provide._

_ Listen, I know that this time of year is not particularly your favorite, but please just try to enjoy it for the sake of the other rangers. Don't you dare say that you don't believe in Santa around them! They do, and I don't want you to ruin it for them. Mentor nearly had a heart attack. This is the one thing that Jayden has when it comes to a normal life, and he was right out side in the hallway when you said that. Just pretend that you do believe, for his sake, and things will run as smoothly as possible. In regards to your allergies, I told Mentor to pick up your medicine, if they ask you to help with the ornaments or the decoration, just suck it up. It won't kill you (and before you mentally retort, I checked with the doctor. She said it won't kill you)! You're a strong kid, and I know that you'll do it for your friends. Mia, I know that you don't want me to write this, but Merry Christmas!_

_Love,_

_Mom_

Mia rolls her eyes and looks at the back of the picture. In big, sloppy letters, her brother wrote _Merry Christmas Grinchie!_ Underneath it is a ginormous smiley face wearing a santa hat. She sighs when her eyes reach that obnoxious nickname that her brother gave her especially for this time of year. She flipped the picture over to see the image on the front. Her brother was wearing a big, tacky, red, Christmas sweater, smiling, and pointing at the obviously not fake tree. He looked so proud. She can only think of how happy he probably is. There was no possible way that anybody could deny that the reason that he couldn't have his big tree until now was her fault. That wretched nickname _Grinchie _keeps on slipping back into her mind. She had never let it really bother her, but now as she remembers every time he said it, and how true it seems, it stings like a swarm of bees.

"Hey, Mia, are you ok?" a concerned Emily (previously known as the hyperactive blond) asked.

Mia looks up and quickly hides her arms back under her jacket along with the picture. "Yeah, why?" she responded with her eyes to the ground.

"Your eyes are tearing up, and you've been really quiet."

"Em, I'm fine. I've got allergies."

Emily narrowed her eyes, and bluntly asked "In December?"

"Evergreen." Mia replied sheepishly revealing her right arm from under her jacket. Making sure to keep the left, with the note, hidden.

When Emily saw Mia's arms her eyes widened. She screamed, "Oh, my gosh Mia! How? Was that from the trees? Are you..."

"Emily, calm down! I will be fine. My mom sent Mentor my allergy medicine, and once that starts to kick in I'll be fine, you know." When Emily's concerned look did not wipe off her face, Mia continued, "I'm used to this, me and my brother pick one out every year, see?" She slipped out the picture of her brother. Emily looks at it and smiles.

"Well, I guess that Christmas wouldn't be the same without a real tree. Green and brown plastic just wouldn't give the same warm feeling, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Mia sighed. "Terry says that his favorite part of _real _Christmas trees are the smell, but I barely even know what it smell like."

Once again, Emily was shocked, "Really? Thats what makes the whole house feel like Christmas! How do you not know how they smell?"

"It's simple really, every time I get close enough to get a whiff of one, my nose gets stuffed up and I start sneezing like crazy!" Both girls started cracking up. Emily wraps her arm around Mia's neck and trails behind with her friend giving her company while she tries to breathe.

The guys are working on the tree while Mia is in the kitchen baking her "delicious" cookies. Emily is finishing up an email to her older sister, Serena. Kevin and Mike are talking and decorating the tree. Jayden, Mentor, and Antonio are nowhere to be found until Jayden storms into the house looking furious.

"Hey guys, get in here! What did you do?" Jayden yelled. Mike, Kevin, and Emily run and meet their leader in the foyer.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin inquired.

"You know! Mentor's hopping mad, you guys better get out there. Where's Mia?"

"Right here!" the exasperated girl panted, "I was taking my cookies out of the oven when you called. I didn't want them to burn."

"Guys, get out side right now, before Mentor freaks!" Jayden insists. The rangers run outside only to find Mentor and Antonio with a huge grin plastered on their faces. Mentor had prepared a small surprise for the rangers with the enlisted help of Jayden and Antonio. Somehow they have managed to lug a projector and a ginourmous tarp into the training area. They hung it on the cabana where Antonio usually cooks lunch (unbeknownst to Mia generally to save the others from her culinary horrors). All around were Christmas lights, and on the wooden ground where they spar, several mattresses were sprawled on top.

"You guys are not in proper attire! Antonio, did you do the laundry like I asked?" Mentor questioned, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Oh no! Must have slipped my mind!" Antonio replied in an extremely rehearsed tone.

"Oh, well I guess you'll have to wear these." he said in the same tone Antonio used, and handed out Christmas decorated footsie pajamas with colors corresponding with their ranger colors. The rangers giggles as they received their "uniform." As they all walk off Mentor yells after them, "Be quick or else!" Causing the rangers to laugh even louder.

When they came back Mentor was wearing is own set of pajamas that were white, and had brought out blankets and popcorn. They all sat down and wrapped themselves up in the big fluffy blankets. The cold air felt nice with the warm attire. aMentor walks up to the projector stationed in front of them, and began playing a movie. Mia's heart sunk the moment the narrator began his monologue. The Grinch. She watched, heart sinking lower minute by minute. Every time he tries to steal something, or acts like a grouch, a different memory pops into her head. Eventually her mind wondered off to the picture, and then back to the wretched nickname. The Grinch is about to drop all of the presents off the mountain, and she feels like she is going to cry. She slowly distanced herself from the group. _"If I could get inside, I could just go to sleep."_ she thought. She was about to sneak off, when Kevin grabbed her heal.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Restroom" she replied.

"Ok, come back soon." he whispered, and then faced back toward the screen. He makes it a bit obvious that he has never seen this movie. His eyes are wide and expectant, almost as if he is waiting to find out weather or not he will actually drop all of Whoville's presents off of the mountain.

Mia tip-toes back inside the Shiba house, to not disturb anyone else, and when she clears the doorway, the tears start flowing. She goes as fast as she can to her room, only to figure out where Mentor got all of the mattresses from. She slumps down on the floor next to her bed frame and shakily takes out the picture one more time. She stared at the crude lettering and then, her brother's smiling face. Then, Mia put the picture down in her lap, reaches up into her bedside table drawer, and pulls out another picture. In it she sees six smiling faces, all with the same jet-black hair and chocolate eyes, none wearing anything posh. They are gathered around a small Christmas tree the size of a chihuahua. Two adults each had one of the younger children sitting on their laps. The woman had a little boy only about four years old, and the man had a little girl who could not have been more than a year older than the boy. Standing behind them were two twin boys leaning into the picture. They were about nine, or possibly ten years old, and could not be told apart by anything other than their torn and well worn Christmas sweaters. One is read and the other is green. The two younger children are waring hand-me-down sweaters like the one's their older brothers. The mother is wearing a black training uniform with pink stripes and the Shiba symbol. The father is wearing a navy uniform. The room has tacky wallpaper that is peeling at the edges. It is tainted with staines and and blotches of unknown origin.

Mia looks up from the picture with a river of tears streaming down her face. "The one thing I wanted, was for them to come home! Why was that so hard? Why couldn't you just do that? I can't remember one time when I actually got what I wanted from you. Everything I wished for, I got for myself, but this was your chance, the one thing I can not get for myself, the one thing I really truly wanted." she exclaimed. "How can they believe in a bunch of lies?" she whimpered in a lower voice. Unknown to her, there was an unexpected visitor standing outside her door hearing every word she said.

**A/N: I'm not good at writing romance, so any ideas would be helpful. Right now I'm going for Kia, but it could also become a Jia if any ideas come my way. Please Review!**

***Snowy Black-a polite way to say black hair with grey streaks (my family uses it all the time)**


	2. Sammantha Clause

**A/N: Hey it's me again. Thanks to everyone who's read the story, It means a lot that you did, and I hope that you'll review! (please) This chapter should get things going on the more juicy side with all of the secrets, and the mystery of the picture may be explained, but it may not. Just keep reading (and review PLEASE)!**

_"The one thing I wanted, was for them to come home! Why was that so hard? Why couldn't you just do that? I can't remember one time when I actually got what I wanted from you. Everything I wished for, I got for myself, but this was your chance, the one thing I can not get for myself, the one thing I really truly wanted." she exclaimed. "How can they believe in a bunch of lies?" she whimpered in a lower voice._

Mentor sighed as he stood outside her door. He came in to see where she had gone. He'd already sent the other rangers to bed with their respective mattresses, and then realized that she had never come back. He leaves the mattress by her door and walks away. He goes and sits in the training area, right next to the Christmas tree, when a familiar face comes down the chimney. A slim young woman stands up. She has pin-straight, bleach blond hair, pail skin, mystical blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and is wearing a red jumpsuit and a matching red hat. She stands straight and tall and begins to fill up each stocking, except the pink one, until she hears an "E-hem" from Mentor. She turns around, surprised at first, but then smiles when she sees the old man's face.

"Hello, Ji. Sure has been a while. How's Jay?" she asked in a jolly tone.

"He's doing well. It was difficult for him when it came to adjusting to the team, but now they act as if they've known each other for years!" he chuckles, but then goes to a much more serious tone, "Why did you skip over Mia's stocking? I don't know about you, but of all people I think that she deserves a little Christmas cheer. She is one of the nicest girls I've ever known!"

"If you don't believe, you don't see. If you don't see, you don't receive." she recited in a sad tone, "She never has believed, and the one time she hoped, she asked for the one thing that no one could give her."

"I see...and what was this one thing?"

"She wanted..." she started, but was quickly interrupted.

"Sam!" a gleeful Jayden ran in with Kevin, Emily, and Antonio at his heels. Something shakes under the tree, and all of a sudden Mike pops up, sleeping bag and all.

With a smile she said, "Hi, Jay, Em, Mike, Kevin, Antonio. What are you doing up?"

"Well, we heard you talking to mentor, and had to come see you, I mean, it's not like we can ride up to your place for a weekend visit, if you know what I mean!" he replied. She was about to retort when another appeared.

"What are you guys doing up?" Mia groggily asked.

"Look who's here, Mia! It's Sammantha Clause!" Kevin cheered. Even he looked giddy. Mia looks over to where he's pointing, and just sees an empty stocking. She raises an eyebrow.

"So, Sam, what are we getting?" Mike asked eagerly.

"Mike! Don't be rude, she just got here!" Emily scorns. She turns to Sam, "Want some milk or a cookie?"

Mia almost burst out laughing, "Really? Guys, I know that I told Mentor that I wouldn't say this, but this is just ridiculous! Santa is not real! You hear me? NOT REAL!" Everyone stood shocked. No one expected that to come out of her mouth. Sammantha stepped up.

"Mia, I think it's time you get back to bed." Sam staid in a stern voice.

"You know what, this is ridiculous! I'm going back to bed!" and with that she stomps away. Sammantha shakes her head.

"She never believed, therefore she never could see, and thus she never receives. Her brothers used to mess with her, once even sending her to the hospital, therefor they would always get coal, and they convinced themselves, and her, that they get coal just because their parents can't afford gifts. They would hide anything that was put in her stocking and would not let her leave out cookies or milk" she said in a sad tone, "And like I was telling Ji, the one time she gave it a chance, the one time she believed, was the time she asked for the one thing that could not be given."

"Wait, what? This is making no sense! First off, brothers? She's never mentioned having a sibling let alone several brothers. Plus, what is this thing with the whole 'the one time she gave it a chance' thing?" Kevin asked.

"Well, I am not just referring to Mia when I say this, not everybody here is who they seem to be. Some rangers have their secrets, and I sure hope they stay that way, because if they are revealed, there could be a mutiny on your hands."


	3. A Half-True Revelation

**A/N:** **Once again, thanks so much for reading. This probably will be my last Christmas chapter, but Sammantha Clause is not going anywhere any time soon, and I'll make her origin story in one of the upcoming chapters. Thank you GoseiShinkenPink and shreya27r for reviewing! I have an idea for romance and it involves a very jealous Jayden. Enjoy and please review!**

The next morning, Mike stormed the house screaming, "IT"S CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS! Mia rolled over in her bed, now complete with mattress. She sighs and forces herself out of bed, and walks over to her dresser and pulls out a white sweater. She slips it on and puts a fake smile on over her face and walks out. When she gets to the Christmas tree, she sees everyone doing the same. When she looks over to the chimney, she sees that her's has been filled with items unlike the others. "_Looks like Mentor tried to cover up last night, and I guess I'll play along"_ Mia thought to herself.

She smiled gratefully when they gave her the cook book (as if she didn't know that her cooking was horrible), chewed on a candy cane(pretending that she didn't notice how her's was red and green unlike the others' traditional ones), smiled when Mike saw the green harley they all pitched in to pay for (ignoring how his smile made her blood boil), laughed as he drove off like a maniac (though she still seethed), and smiled when Mike returned empty handed after he gave it away (remembering that he has changed). She is about to go back to her room, when someone stops her.

"Mia, can we talk, you know, about last night?" Emily shyly asked. Mia sighs. She can never say no to Emily, she's like her younger sister. She just does not want to reveal anything.

Mia looks down and then back at Emily. She rolls her eyes, says, "Come on," and leads the young blonde into her room. Emily sits down on Mia's bed as she grabs the pictures from her bedside table and hands them over and sits down beside her friend.

"That's my dad," she said pointing to the man in the uniform, "and that's my Mom, and those are my brothers," pointing to the others. "My dad was a captain in the navy at the time this was taken. Now he's an admiral."

"Wait, but I thought that..."

Mia interrupts, "Yeah, I know the rule. We don't talk much. Anyways, that's Terry, my younger brother, he's a freshman in high school us and he is trying to become a doctor."

"Wait, then are they your brothers too?"

"They were, but now, well..." her voice cracked and tears once again began to flow, "Now they are gone. Three years ago, in November. The one thing I asked was for them to come home." Her whole body shook and tears flowed. Emily was speechless. Mia tried to say more, but Emily stopped her.

"You've said enough. Do you want me to tell the others or would you like to?"

"I...I...I'll tell them, when I'm ready. For now, can we keep this between us?"

Emily looked at her teary-eyed friend and smiled, "Of course." Yet, in the back of her head, Emily had a sneaking suspicion that time would never come, and there was so much more to this story, than what her friend bestowed upon her, but she heeded Sammantha's advice, not wanting to start another war. Though her heart told her, that soon this unknown information will resurface, and once more the rip in the rangers' trust will be torn even further apart, and one day the delicate fabric will be torn apart. Will they be able to mend it?

**A/N: I3suspence! I hope that you liked it, and just to clarify, I've had an unusual amount of time on my hands, if you were wondering about the rapid fire updating. I wish that this were normal, but if it were, I would have about 20 stories up already. I promise, though, that I will do my best to update at least once or twice a week. Please give me your reviews, comments, and any thing that you want to see happen in this story!**


	4. Fire Starter

**A/N: Hey! After a battle with an obnoxious computer, an unwanted application, writers block, and lack of valid information, I have created this chapter. It is set during "The Tengen Gate," but what I could not figure out was whether or not this episode happened before or after "Christmas Together Friends Forever" since it was a Christmas special, so for the purposes of the story, it happened after. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it so much! Enjoy!**

The rangers walk up towards the Tengen Gate, something that looks akin to an old traditional structure, despite the fact that it is just outside of Panorama City. An older, bald man with a wispy beard and a traditional kimono, Daisuke, comes out to greet them. They walk inside and engage in small talk that quickly loses Mia's attention. She walks towards an old painting that has also caught Kevin's attention.

"It's an old folk tale," Daisuke said as he wakes up behind them. "A woman made a deal with the Nilock King to saver her husband after their house caught fire, but he tricked her, and turned them both into Nilocks. He whipped the man's memory and cursed him to roam the earth alone for eternity."

"That sounds like something that a Nilock would do." Kevin spits out. He shakes his head in disapproval, as if that one small story, that could possibly not even be true, reassured him of his mission. The rangers are used to him getting like this. He is very passionate about his job, which is what makes him one of the best.

Mia runs her fingers gently over the image of the woman holding her husband in her arms. She can't help but think of how familiar this feels. "It's weird," she thinks out loud, "it's as if I know her." She stares dreamily at the painting as an old memory resurfaces. One that she constantly pushes back down, but the mere mention of fire brings it back to the front line (so living down the hall from Jayden kind of has not been helping with the 'pushing it down' bit). A memory of flames, sadness, and in the end, friendship.

_WeeOhhWeeOhhWeOhh! The fire alarm screams. She wants to escape her small cage, but she is trapped. Walls of metal turn locker into furnace. She screams and kicks at the walls of her prison, just trying to get anybody's attention. Soon, the locker filled with smoke causing her to cough. She feels dizzy, but keeps at it. Her back and knees are bloody and burnt from the flaming walls. She doesn't think that anybody will come, until a man's voice echoes throughout the hall._

_ "Is anybody in here?" the deep voice calls._

_ "O…o…over h…h…here!" she replies. She kicks as hard as she can against the walls of the locker._

_ "Do you know which room you're in?" he screams._

_ "L…l…locker 123!" She pounds with all of her might. Soon, she hears the man breathing outside of her cage. She can hear him messing with the lock, and the eventual ping of it falling on the ground. He swings open the locker door and scoops her up into his arms. He put his mask over her mouth and instructs her to breathe through it. He carries her outside and towards an ambulance. She is gently laid on a genre. Vaguely she hears three familiar voices. They are fighting with the paramedics about something, but she can't distinguish what they are saying. Her vision blurs just as she fells a big rough hand grab hers._

"The tea is ready," a young man with a shaved head announces. Mia turns around and sits with the others. She smiles gratefully as she receives her cup (though she is not thirsty), she listens to the others (though she is greatly distracted), and she runs outside with the others to fight the monster (though she'd rather stay and protect her poisoned leader).

The monster leads them outside the compound, deep into the woods. As the fight ensues, the rangers are weakened. Blow, by blow, none of them can even make a dent, while the monster pummels them. As she battles with consciousness, the monster strikes. Soon, she can only see night.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Because of the flashback, I'm thinking of upping the rating, you tell me what you think, a****nd thanks to ****shreya27r****, this will officially be a Jia. Give me your feedback, tell me what you like, what you don't, and really anything on your mind that relates to my story!**


	5. Lost In Thought

**A/N: Well, I needed to distract myself from my own personal defeat today, so I wrote another chapter after, even though I posted the previous one, a few hours ago. Don't ask questions, but let's put it this way, you know that a match is not going well when you start out by hitting your partner in the back with your first serve !**

Mia looks out the window of the infirmary, lost in thought. Just thinking about the girl in the story, and fire in general. _"That girl lost everything because of the Nighlock. I wonder if they set her house on fire. I mean it sounds about right. I wonder if that is what happened to me as well. Two rangers in one school, it sure makes some sense. Plus, I had to walk down that hall every day, same time, and 90% of the time the principal would have to get me out of that wretched locker. I still can't believe he's related to that jerk." _She looked over at the ranger who is the cousin of her former tormentor. She laughs every time she thinks about what he used to look like with that ridiculous hair-do. One day she will use it against him, but if he finds her out, then he would have just as much to laugh about. That is why she stays quiet (not saying much), and that is why her story is closed (awaiting to be told at the right place, at the right time), that is why nobody knows (though she is dying to tell).

Then her eyes glance over to the only empty bed in the room, and is filled with worry, hoping that Jayden will be ok. He was kidnapped by Deker after he was poisoned. _"I sure hope he's ok. I just need him to be. I should have told him. He should know about…no…the truth only would tarnish a dead man's reputation. What's the point in that? It's not like I physically CAN tell him. I just…well…I feel guilty about keeping this from him…but we all have our secrets, so it's not that bad…but it's his right to know…but it's none of his business…still it is his…"_

She is awoken from thought when she sees Kevin attempting to get out of bed at the sound of the gap sensor. She is the only one watching him as he collapses to the ground. "Kevin! You're weak from the battle yesterday. You need to rest." Mia scolds sternly.

"I can't just sit around and wait!" he retorts. She can see that there is no way she will reason with him. He's just about as stubborn as he is passionate about the ranger biz. She painfully slips out of her bed and walks around to his, supporting herself on anything that she can hold onto, and helps him up.

"You can't do it alone. We have to do it together, as a team!" Emily and Mike begin to walk towards them, helping each other as they go. _"Ok, so that came out a bit cheesier and generic than intended, but I guess it worked."_ They all walk out supporting each other as they go, trudging into the main room, where Mentor and Antonio are working on a new weapon called the black box.

"You should be in bed." Mentor scorns. _"You try reasoning with Kevin, and then you'll see that the Nighlock might be the safer option!"_ Mia thought to herself. They run off into another battle with the Nighlock from yesterday without their battle disks. Those were entrusted to Antonio, who was still tinkering with the black box.

**A/N: I hope that those of you who asked for a Jia enjoyed your first little hint of a connection between the two. I know it's not romance, but it will be the link that could flourish into a romance… (foreshadowing) I tried to speed up the posting just for this one so I could have a bit of a reflection on the flashback from the previous chapter. The connections and secrets that Sammantha foretold are coming to light!**


	6. Cheese Pizza and Paradise

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Power Rangers, Moonlight, Twilight, or TMNT.**

**A/N: This is my first true attempt at romance, so I beg of thee, please give a review, so if I failed, at least I know I failed.**

They all stood and watched as the Nighlock monster sped off. At the second battle he seemed to be more savage than anything else. Not as cunning, but twice as powerful. A familiar hand is placed on her shoulder, and despite the sharp pain that surges from the fresh wound from the previous day's battle that lay beneath the hand, she smiles. _"It sure is a good thing I have my helmet on right now!"_ Mia thinks to herself, because she is almost certain that she blushed, and she knows she has a big goofy grin on her face right now.

She turns and faces her leader, who gives her a big bear hug. She tries to hold it in, but a little groan escapes her. "Oh, sorry." he apologizes.

She chuckles, "Its ok, I'm just glad that your back!"

"Me to!" he jokes. For a second, his hand lingers on her back, still gently hugging her, until Antonio and Kevin pull him away, to bombard him with several useless questions about what had happened, no doubt.

* * *

Jayden was perched on a bench alone, just thinking to himself. Everyone could tell that something was on his mind, and everyone also knew that there was absolutely no way of getting it out of him. Kevin suggested trying to come up with a new strategy for defeating the new, stronger, more savage Nighlock, and Mike said that he'll do it for pizza. Nothing more, nothing less. Emily giggles when Kevin mouths _"Of course"_ to the others, but Mia's able to keep a straight face. The rangers, minus Jayden, go and pick up the pizza. The day was nice and all of the rangers are joking and laughing as they go.

Mia looks over to her previous tormentor, the cousin of her mortal enemy (behind the Nighlock monsters), and laughs. _"If only they could see me now! They'd think I'm insane for even being within ten feet of him. Who would of thought that he could be such a sweetie. So long as he doesn't hurt Em, I don't have a problem with him!"_

As they pass the cinema, Emily looks over at the list of movies showing. Her eyes scan until she finds the one she's looking for. "Oh my gosh! Hey, guys it's finally out!"

"What's out, chica?" Antonio questions.

"That new spy movie! We have to go see it on our next day off! It's about a teen spy who goes under cover as someone she isn't, but also has to dodge suspicion from her kindergarten crush who just so happens to be there the whole time. Supposedly it's really good!"

"Does it have Chaning Tatem, that guy from 'Moonlight' who can't keep his shirt on, singing and dancing every five minutes, or overkill romance?" Mike asks.

"No, no. no, and no, and his name is Taylor Laughtner, plus its called 'Twilight,' not 'Moonlight.'" She says flatly.

"Fine then, let's see the movie! Oh, and I meant to say 'Moonlight.'"

"Wasn't 'Moonlight' a cop show about a vampire?" Kevin wonders.

"Yeah, and guess what? He only worked the night shift." Mike joked. Everybody groans.

* * *

When they get there, Mike marches up to the woman behind the counter and orders first, "I'll have a medium cheese with pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, pineapple, ham, turkey, anchovies, almonds, avocado, salami, sausage, peanuts, peas, zucchini, blue cheese, goat cheese, feta, gorgonzola, cheddar, colby, jack, mozzarella, ricotta, romano, provolone, camembert…" As Mike drones on, Mia begins to regret saying that she'll pick up the tab. "oysters, prawns, salmon, shrimps, smoked salmon, squid, tuna, whitebait, beetroot, black beans, broccoli, capers, capicolla, carrot, cherry tomatoes, dried tomatoes, eggplant, fungi, fungi carciofi…" He doesn't look like he's going to stop. Mia looks down at her feet, wishing every second that she hadn't opened her mouth.

"_It wasn't too long ago that I didn't EVER mutter a single word. Boy, I wish I could go back to those days! Ever since then, my big fat mouth has gotten me into more trouble than it's worth!" _Mia thought to herself.

"roast cauliflower, roasted eggplant, roasted garlic, roasted peppers…"

Finally Kevin butts in, "Just so you know, Mike, you're paying for this!"

"…venison…wait…what? I thought that Mia was paying? She said she would!" Mike exclaims.

Antonio answers this time, "Amigo, hermanita said she would pay for a _PIZZA_, not the pizza _HUT_!"

"I only was ordering the basics!" Mike defends himself, as if he had been told this after he had only ordered a glass of water.

"Mike, nobody else will eat this aside from you, and I'm hungry!" Emily whined.

"Bu…wa…co…uh…_MIA_! Come on, you said that you would buy the pizza!"

Mia's been quiet this whole time, despite the fact that the whole conversation was about her. She mumbles her response, "Well, Ididn'tknowthatyouweregonnaorderallofthiswhenIsaidthat…"

"What did you say?" Mike demands. Mia feels like shrinking back into her shell. "I couldn't hear a word you just said."

_"Story of my life!"_ she thinks to herself. "I didn't really think that you were going to order all of this when I said that, but I know that I did say that I would..."

"Mia, this is outrageous, you don't have to pay for all of this, and that's final!" Kevin interrupted. He almost was laughing as he says this. Mia feels her face go red, and her eyes go back to her shoes. Mike looks from friend to friend. Nobody's budging.

Mike lets out a long sigh. "Fine," he turns to the woman at the counter, "make it a small."

She is suppressing a laugh when she asks, "Anything else with that, sir?"

"No." he grumbles. He pulls out his wallet to pay her but comes up a good ten dollars short. "Mia, could I borrow fifteen bucks?"

"Wait, you only owe ten. What's the other five for?" Mia questions.

"I want to go to the arcade!"

"Fine, here's _TEN._"

"Thanks." He walks to the end of the counter to wait for his order.

Kevin steppes up after him, "One medium cheese with pepperoni please."

"Anything else with that, sir?" the woman repeats.

"No, thanks." Kevin replies. The others go to join Mike while Mia pays for the pizza.

"Interesting friends you got there." The woman jokes.

"I'll say!"

The woman glances over to Mike and says, "That Mike seems to be a bit of a handful!"

"You have no idea." Mia looks over to her friends, and especially towards Mike. _"He orders more on his pizza than Michelangelo! I honestly didn't think that was possible until he said the word anchovies. Michelangelo never orders anchovies."_ The woman hands Mia her change and joins her friends. "I think I figured a way to defeat the Nighlock!" she whispers just loud enough that all of the rangers could hear. "Antonio should build a weapon that launches Mike's pizza at them. When they see the price they'll want to blow up themselves!" They laughed the whole way home.

* * *

When they get back, Jayden is still sitting on the bench deep in thought. It takes some heckling, but eventually, they get him to join. When he does Mia dawns the goofy grin, and thankfully no one notices. As they walk in they begin to tell Jayden about Mike's pizza, and end with Mia's idea about defeating the Nighlock and the unveiling of the pizza.

"Mike, that's not a pizza, that's just a mountain of food on a dough plate!" Jayden laughs.

"That's the best part!" Mike beams. He begins to dig into his personal heart-attack-in-a-box, getting food everywhere.

"Hey, Mike!" Kevin yells, "you gonna go get the ten bucks you owe Mia, or what?"

Mike lifts his face from the pizza, and looks over to Mia. His cheeks are puffed up like a chipmunk's, and replies with pizza falling out of his mouth all over himself, "Uh, I'll have to get back to you on that!"

Mia rolls her eyes. _"Some things NEVER change!"_ she thinks. She grabs a piece of his monstrosity, and when he asks her what she's doing she replies, "Now, we're even." and continues to eat. _"Aside from the price, this is not that bad."_

**A/N: I hope you enjoy the chapter, hoped it makes you laugh! Notice the Michelangelo reference. Seriously though, I really would like it if you could leave your thoughts and opinions about this story. Any help you could give me would be awesome, and if you want me to keep writing this story, I seriously need help with romance scenes, because I usually omit them from my stories. So, if you want a Jia with a hint of Memily, then please, please, PLEASE give me some help. Thanks to everyone who reads this and enjoys this. I sure love writing for you guys!**


	7. The Hack

**A/N: So sorry for the late update. I was in Amsterdam with my friends and didn't have a converter for my computer charger, or my computer charger, or internet connection (was not risking going into a coffee shop). I tried to make this one a bit longer, and I'm going to lengthen out my chapters from now on. I do hope you like it, and as usual all reviews, ideas, ANYTHING would be nice. You could even put down what you had for breakfast! Just write it in the reviews, and I'll try to respond! Enjoy!**

Antonio is yelling, frustrated at the black box. It is not responding to anything he tried. The others were outside training, and listening in to Antonio's rant, though it was mostly in Spanish. Mia sighs and walks over to Mentor.

"I know you know that I could help him _AND_ speed up the process." she whispers into his ear.

"Then, I know you know that I can't allow that despite the fact that you could _POSSIBLY_ help." he whispers back.

Mia glares at him and then responds, "I don't think that _HE _should have much of a say in this anymore, plus you know that was a big misunderstanding! He totally over reacted!"

"But I still have my orders." Mentor's calm tone and undaunted disposition irked Mia even more.

"Yeah, but because of those orders I paid the price! And might I remind you, _IT REALY HURT!"_ she whines. Mentor glances over at the other rangers who are still training. Mia got the message and quieted down again. "I understand that he was important to you, but I really don't care about him, I care about the sake of my friends! You know that! I'm not seven years old anymore, Mentor. Now, I know a bit more about common sense."

"Mia, if this is about removing the symbol, it's not gonna happen." Mentor taunts. "As I said before, that symbol's not coming off unless you somehow defeat Master Xandred! Not just seal him away, but _DEFEAT!_"

"It has nothing to do with that! We need the black box, and I can help program it. You know that I can, but because of some stupid…"

"Don't disrespect Jayden's father, the previous red ranger, the man who gave his life to seal away Master Xandred…"

"Didn't do a very good job of it!" she hisses. "If he truly was looking out for us, he would have known better than to persecute members of his team for such trivial means!"

She strikes a chord when she says this. Mentor becomes even quieter, "He had his reasons."

Mia smirks and shakes her head in disbelief. "Reasons? Name one."

"Tradition, Mia, tradition. Your mother knows the rules about military involvement for Samurai, and yet she defied it." Mia rolls her eyes at a lecture given to her several times before. "So did your brothers, and so do you. John was given the authority to…"

"Not to attack a kid for being born! Nobody has the authority to do that!" The air is thick between the two. Mia looks him right into the eyes, unafraid. Mentor is not used to being challenged. Usually Jayden just blindly follows whatever order is bestowed upon him, and a yes is a yes and a no is a no. Mike is a pain, but listens to reason, but Mia is much more stubborn and daring than all of the rangers combined. While Mia is responsible, kind, and protective of the others, sometimes she just rubs him the wrong way.

"We will discuss this later. Get back to training, _NOW!_" She narrows her eyes and goes back to sparing with Emily. When Emily raises a questioning eyebrow, Mia just shakes her head.

* * *

Deep in the night everyone is asleep. Well, almost everyone. There is a girl with raven hair stalking through the night. The girl approaches the door of the room set aside for Antonio's work on the black-box. She slides open the door without creating a sound and tiptoes into the room. She finds the gold ranger slumped against the wall and the black box set up on a podium. She quietly sets down a computer on the ground and opens up her samuraizer. She focuses all of her energy on the small box and begins writing a wall of symbols in the air. It translates to basic programing code. By the time she is done writing, the symbol reaches from the ceiling to the floor.

Then, with a swipe of her samurizer, the symbols are sent into the black box. She stands expectantly for only a few seconds until golden symbols burst from the black box, and line every wall. With the swipe of her hand she can scroll through them all, analyzing each one.

"Antonio, what mess did you get me into?" she sighs. Then she goes about her work, editing, erasing, and changing all of the inappropriate symbols, and changing them to the correct one. As she goes on she begins to realize something and mutters to herself, "Thank you, Cam, for those boring nights we spent together when Mom needed you to watch me. If you didn't put me to sleep with your programing lingo, then we wouldn't have a black box," she glances over to Antonio, "or a gold ranger. One more wrong symbol, and he would've blown himself up."

Once she finishes the edits, she sends the symbols back into the box. Then she creeps over to Antonio's sleeping form, and slips his samurai morpher out of his hand. Then as she looks into its history (the first thing he made easy for her), and saw that he had placed the dragon zord's symbol into the box already, but since she'd redone everything, she would have to do it again herself. She places his morpher on the ground and writes more symbols in the air to format it to the black box. She sends them into the morpher, and then walks over to pick it up.

"_So, I guess his is kindof like texting?"_ she thinks to herself as she stares down at his device. She types a few symbols into the gadget, and then points it at the dragon zord disk. She plants her feet and braces herself just before she hits _enter_. The symbol flies out and hits the disk. She grunts, not anticipating the extra symbol power it would take to execute this task. Because her symbol is not water or light, she struggles with this part, having to get down on her knees to make sure she does not fall over. Sweat drips down from her brow, her hands shake, and she is panting. She does not know how much longer she can continue. Her vision blurs for a few seconds, but clears quickly. The disk's symbols fly into the black box, and finally she sees a hologram of the dragon zord flying into the box. A huge grin is painted onto her pallid face.

She looks over at Antonio, who is still sound asleep and whispers to herself, "Well, looks like you've got your work cut out for you buddy." She hobbles over to the sleeping figure and places his samurai morpher back into his hand, and quietly creeps out of the room, and heads to her own. As she slips on her pajamas and washes her face. She looks up into the mirror and sees the smile is still plastered on her face. Despite her aching bones and the lack of the ability to keep her eyes open, she is happy knowing that because of her, it will only be a day or two until they have their new weapon. _"Today, I made Cam proud."_

* * *

In the morning, Mia wakes up with a splitting headache and is sore from head to toe. She groans as she trudges out of bed and grabs a sweatshirt to slip on over her tank top she wore to sleep. As she puts it on, she hesitates, turns around, and looks at the old scar on her left shoulder blade. It was slightly faded and distorted through years of growth spurts and healing, but you could still clearly tell what it was. Burnt into her flesh was the symbol of silence. The reason she is unable to tell Jayden or the others the truth about her or her past. She shakes her head in disgust remembering how it got there. _"If only he could see me now. He'd regret what he had done tenfold!" _she seethes.

She slips on the black sweatshirt and walks out of her room, only to be greeted by a chorus of screams, laughs, and utter confusion. This just made her head pound even more. Mike and Kevin were battling about some trivial issue (Mike probably was the instigator), Antonio cheering himself on as he makes more progress on the black box, Jayden is slugging a punching bag, and inadvertently beating up Emily who is holding it up. Emily spots Mia, and drops the punching bag, dodges Jayden's fist, and runs up to her and grins, "Hey, sleepyhead! I was about to go wake you up! What took you so long?"

"Headache." Mia mutters.

"Oh, okay. Let's go to the kitchen, and I'll make us some tea, but first, you might want to go get changed. While the fluffy ninja turtles pajama pants look comfy, I don't think that they're proper samurai training attire." Emily giggles. Mia smiles and nods. As she walks out she silently curses herself for wearing the pj's that Cassie bought her. If Mentor saw, then she'd be dead.

She painfully slips on her uniform, triple checking that the scar isn't showing, and returns to the kitchen. She sits down at the counter and smiles as Emily slides over a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and tea.

"Mentor made breakfast. You don't know what it took to make sure Mike didn't steal your plate. When he couldn't get yours, he got Kevin's. That's why their fighting out there." Emily informs Mia as she slides onto the stool next to her. "Mentor is going out to get more pancake mix, while Kevin pummels Mike. He told me to make sure that you were up, and to train with Jayden for the time being." Mia nods as she stuffs her face. After the previous night, she really was hungry. Emily looks shifts in her chair, and glances back at Jayden. Mia took notice.

"What's wrong Em?" Mia asks.

"You haven't told them, have you?" Mia doesn't know what she's talking about at first, but then it hits her. She shakes her head. "Mia, you've got to tell them. You sure that you don't want me to do it for you.

"No, I've gotta be the one to tell them, but you know the rules. The moment the word 'military' leaves my lips they're gonna go bananas!" Mia replies. "Mike and Antonio probably will just shrug it off, but Jayden and Kevin? Not so much. Currently, I like my head where it is. ON MY SHOULDERS."

Emily laughs, remembering Jayden and the punching bag. "I don't know, maybe you'd look good with the whole headless horseman look." Emily teases.

"On Halloween!" The two girls burst out laughing. Mia stuffs the last bit of pancakes in her mouth, right as Mentor walks in.

"Good morning, girls. Nice to see the both of you finally up." he says as he looks over at Mia, "I hope that you both are well rested. Once you two are done, meet Jayden outside and start today's training. You two will be sparing, while Jayden will be working on symbols. Mike and Kevin will be doing some 'special' training due to their behavior this morning." The two girls lock eyes, nod their heads, and head outside.

Each grab a kendo stick and begin to spar. Jayden walks over to the easel and picks up a brush and a jar of paint. Mia's eyes glance his way. She curiously looks at the easel. The kanji she sees is 雷光raikou (lightning). The page erupts with electric currents. Eventually it begins to char up, and Mia looks back to her opponent just in time to nearly dodge a swing at her shoulder, barely blocking it. She shakes her head trying to stay focused. Her vision blurs for a second as she ducks from another attack. She tries to stay on her toes, but the weight of her own body is taking its toll on her. _"I knew first hand that using too much symbol power drains you, but this is ridiculous!"_ Mia thinks to herself, _"Better not let it show, or else Mentor will know."_

The girls' kendo sticks clash for only a few more beat, when Mia lets her guard down slightly out of exhaustion giving Emily an opening to whack her upside the head.

Mia rubs the back of her head with the palm of her hand. Emily just stands there trying not to laugh. "For Peat's sake Mia! Did you get any sleep last night? You know, if Mentor sees you you'll be dead."

"Yes, but obviously not enough."

"Well that's a given! Today you're slower than a sloth." Mia smirks at her friend's comment and whacks Emily in the shin with her kendo stick.

"Ow!" Emily howls.

"Emily did you get any sleep last night, or what?" Mia sarcastically imitates her friend. Emily takes a swing at Mia's head, but she blocks it with her kendo and the two girls go on sparing. Each rhythmic clash of the sword pounds on Mia's head. Each step they take is a key being pressed on Antonio's morpher, draining Mia's energy. Each second that passes is a small battle won in the internal war to stay awake while all her body wants to do is sleep.

Mentor walks outside with Mike and Kevin in tow. Mentor clears his throat and waits a beat to start talking, "As I have been informed that I have things that need to be attended to, Mike and Kevin will be doing all of your chores for a week instead of what I had previously planned. Emily and Mike will spar, and Jayden and Kevin will spar." he turns to the pink ranger, "Mia, it is later."

**A/N: I hope you liked it, and seriously write what you had for breakfast, or the grossest breakfast you've ever eaten in the comments. The most disgusting/funny/both meal will make it into one of my upcoming chapters! Can't wait to hear from you guys!**


	8. Later

**A/N: Just needed to get this up before I write the next one. PLEASE REVIEW and ENJOY!**

Mia trudges behind Mentor as he leads her into the living room. Anticipation builds as each step is taken. They walk past the room where Antonio is working on the black box. She hears him cheer himself on as he successfully gets another one of their discs to cooperate. Mentor glances over at the door and then back at Mia. He walks towards the door at the end of the hallway. He opens the door and walks in. Mia stops in her tracks. This is Mentor's bedroom. Nobody aside from Mentor himself has ever entered, not even Jayden or his father.

He turns around, "Are you coming?" Mia nods and nervously follows him into the room. The walls are a dark, velvet, red with frames of old parchment adorning each, accept for one. This one is lined from floor to ceiling with simple, light wooded shelves. Each is filled with ancient scrolls. Next to the shelves is a small bamboo coffee table and two bamboo chairs with velvet cushions to match the walls. One is obviously more worn than the other. Mentor gestures for her to sit in the lesser worn chair and walks over to a teapot. He pours two cups and places them on the table. He then puts the teapot down behind the two. Mia's eyes wander across the room as she takes a sip. His bed is simple with black sheets and pillows to match. The frame is the same light wood as the one used on the shelves. On his bedside table she sees a picture of a young Jayden and Mentor at Rainbow's End. This made her smile. The thought that every once in a while Jayden actually had fun was very comforting for some odd reason. In front of the picture was a ceramic bowl containing two Chinese Baoding balls. They looked like the ones Jayden received for Christmas.

As Mentor sits the air becomes thick. Mia's hands begin to shake, so she places her cup back on the table. There is a deafening silence between the two. Mentor is the first to speak. "So, Antonio has been making quite some progress today," his calm tone terrifies her. "He said that 'it just clicked.' It makes you wonder how he did it, you know?" Mia nods her head, but can't make eye contact, and her hands shake even more. To stop them, she crosses her arms and holds them tightly against her chest. He knows. "You've been rather sluggish today. Did you get enough sleep?"

Mia finally looks up at him. "Rough night." she mutters.

"Ah," he says, raising an eyebrow, "well isn't that ironic? Last night I couldn't sleep either. I heard a noise, almost like a mouse creeping across the floor, so I went out to look. The only problem is, what I saw was much too tall to be a mouse. At first I thought it was you, but I told you specifically _NOT_ to mess with the black box. Therefore, there is no way it could have been you. I thought, maybe, you would have some ideas as to what I saw."

Mia feels her face go red. She opens her mouth to respond, but no words come out. She is not very used to being in trouble. Not saying that she hasn't done anything before that would grant punishment, she just has never been caught until today. Finally she is able to mutter a few words, "I only wanted to help, and it looks like I did. You know that Cam…"

"DON'T MENTION THAT FARCE!" Mentor screamed. "NEVER IN MY PRECENCE MENTION HIM. HE PARADED AROUND PRETENDING TO BE A SAMURAI. HE IS AN INSULT TO EVERYTHING WE STAND FOR. Mia feels like she should shrink back into a figurative shell, but she doesn't. She instead shoots the anger right back at him.

"DON'T INSULT MY COUSIN!" she screams. She takes a few breaths to calm herself down and then continues, "He is smart, focused, I bet he even trains harder than Jayden and Kevin combined…"

"Doubt it." Mentor interrupts.

"And his team defeated their enemy within a year." Mia sits back in her chair, satisfied. While her cousin has been holding that over her head in a secret email exchange, it is the truth. They got hit with a surprise attack and were more prepared than the samurai ever where.

"Well, it would have helped if your uncle hadn't started the attack in the first place." Mentor snidely remarks. Mia seethes. It is true that her uncle, Kiya, had become Lothor and attacked the Earth along with her cousins, Marah and Kapri. That was after his evil wife had died and his sister-in-law guilt tripped him into letting them help. But Cam never knew him, and neither did Mia. "His judgment isn't very good either. Didn't he let your two alien cousins off the hook for attempting to destroy the Earth with no punishment? Instead he made them ninjas!"

"They were brainwashed by their parents and Mama D, their grandmother. It's not their fault, and they didn't get off that easily. They've been washing the dishes and sweeping the floors ever since in addition to their training. Now they're really nice and super funny if you give them the chance!" Now Mia is whining.

"Jayden's been doing that since he started walking, and _he_ didn't destroy the world." Mentor replies. For some reason, this angers Mia even more, but she does her best to smother the feeling.

"Maybe when you only have to clean up after about two, possibly three, people. They have to clean up after two, possibly three, _hundred_ people. Now I am pretty sure you didn't invite me in here just to insult my family." Mia takes a sip of her tea once more and relaxes in her chair. She is not as nervous, but ten times more annoyed.

Mentor takes notice. He narrows his eyes and speaks carefully, "Ah, yes. You deliberately disobeyed my orders. Despite the fact that you helped, a part of our agreement is that you will not use any skills given to you by your ninja training, as it…"

"As it might interfere with my samurai training. You've told me a million times." Mia interrupts.

He sighs and continues, "Yet, it seems that you need to be reminded. You know the rules, and if you would like me to take the same action that Jayden's father did on you, then I will." He watches as she tenses up, and takes notice to the instant fear that flashes quickly into her eyes. "For now, you will have to do some extra training as well as your training with the others. Just to make sure that you get my message clear. And I don't' ever want you to mention _that_ side of your family in my presence ever again."

"I just don't get why I get scolded for doing what my dad's side of the family does. I was raised to be a ninja, not a samurai. James and Jackson were the samurai. They would have made great ones, and there was no need for me to learn symbol power up until…well…you know. No one expects to lose two brothers in such a short time." Mia whispers.

"Well, maybe if they'd followed the rules and not gone into war, then you wouldn't be in this predicament, now would you?" Mentor says curtly looking down while taking a sip of his own tea. When he looks back up, he sees something he didn't expect. Mia's arms are once again tightly wrapped around herself, her nose is red, and her eyes are filled to the brim with tears. She closes her eyes and turns her head away from him, just as a few tears sneak out. His heart pangs knowing that he has gone too far. In a much softer tone he goads, "Mia." He reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder, but she pulls away.

"Thanks for the tea." she whimpers. Then Mia stands up, and walks away. Outside she hears the others sparing. The clashing of the kendo sticks and the grunts of her friends reminds her of her cousins. She thinks back to the days when Cam, Marah, and Kapri would spend time teaching her and Terry all they knew, despite the two siblings being on the same level as their female cousins. Cam would critique the four of them on their stances and swordsmanship. Cyber Cam would bring them lemonade when they needed a break, just like Mentor does now. They spent a lot of time laughing, and despite the age gap, Mia and Terry were never excluded. Marah and Kapri would Mia how to cook while they were doing their chores, Cam showed Terry how to play the guitar, and Mia and Terry taught them how to do simple, fun, things like throw a frisbee or skip a stone across a clear pond. The things that Mia and Terry taught their cousins were simple, but unbeknownst to them, meant the world to the others. Mia longs to go home, but knows in her heart that she won't be seeing her family for a while. She walks over to the punching bag in the inside training area, and in a small act of defiance, practices only the moves she learned from her cousins until the others finished sparing.


End file.
